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Andy K
Florida is known for its natural beauty, which is what has brought tourists to visit since the 1800's. Since this time, tourism has become the main industry for the state of Florida, bringing millions of people annually to enjoy her beauty and many tourist attractions. Florida Tourism: One might imagine that Florida’s economy has been thriving due to tourism since it’s beginning, but tourism in Florida sprang up in the late 1800’s. Before this, only the wealthy were able to vacation in Florida. The wealthy from the North would travel South to escape the harsh cold weather of the North, and enjoy the beautiful sandy beaches and other natural beauties of Florida. Henry Morrison Flagler saw the potential for out-of-state visitors to Florida when he himself traveled to the beautiful land of St. Augustine in 1883, and was disappointed in the accommodations and transportation system. Flagler gave up his daytime job to purse his ventures in the hotel and transportation business; his goal was to bring adequate infrastructure to Florida towns. He purchased short line railroads, and created the Florida East Coast Railway and soon after founded Palm Beach, and West Palm Beach; building large hotels along the way. By 1987, Flagler’s railroad had reached Miami, where he built the infrastructure from the bottom up, and became known as the “Father of Miami”. Key West was finally connected by railroad in 1912; the railroad had traveled as far south as it could go. Flagler was one of the major players in bringing hotels and transportation to Florida. Tin-Can-Tourists: Now that travel to Florida by railroad from as far north as New York was possible, vacationing in Florida was made possible for the rich and the not so rich alike. With the invention of the automobile, came the emergence of a new kind of traveling group; the “tin-can-tourists.” It is said that these tourists drove south to Florida in their cars, slept in their cars, and even heated their food (in tin cans) on their car engines. These campers came back each year to socialize, sing songs, and swap stories with folk from other states. The tin-can-tourists were the symbol of the new American with leisure time, expendable income, and the ability to purchase the automobile. This group organized in 1919 with the objective to "unite fraternally all auto-campers", and by 1920 were given an official state charter. One could be initiated into the group by learning the secret password, sign, handshake, and singing the official song "The More We Get Together." As early as 1932 , there were an estimated 30,000 - 100,000 tin-can-tourists traveling to Florida for their annual winter conventions. Over the years, the conventions were moved from Tampa to Arcadia, and to Sarasota, and halfway thru the 1970's the group finally dissolved. However, in 1998, the group was reunited in Michigan and the group has once again regained some of it's members, and is open to all that would like to join and abide by its original objects. Main Industry: The next major movement in tourism came with the airplane. Airports were being built in all of the major cities in Florida making travel possible for those all over the nation. By the end of WWII (1945), tourism was the main industry in Florida, surpassing the agricultural (citrus) industry. Initially, Florida brought visitors from the north for its natural beauty and to bask in its seemingly endless sun; however, by 1971, the worlds largest Amusement park was built, bringing in a whole new era of tourist attractions, and nearly 14 billion dollars to the economy in its first year. Walt Disney World covers 25,000 acres of Orlando, and includes six theme parks: the Magic Kingdom (1971), Epcot Center (1982), Disney's Hollywood Studios (1989), and the most recent addition, the Animal Kingdom (1998). Disney has also added Typhoon Lagoon (worlds largest outdoor wave pool), and Blizzard Beach (Florida's first ski attraction later turned water park). Disney World hosted nearly 47 million people in the year 2007, and the Magic Kingdom was ranked the #1 most visited park in the world with 17 million. This park is very expensive, but it is the place where fantasy and dreams come alive, and Mickey Mouse and the gang reside there. floridaO.jpg|The majority of the theme parks are located in Orlando, Florida Orlando.jpg|Disney World, Sea World, Universal Studios, and other theme parks in Orlando. Disney world.jpg|The six parks at Disney World castle.jpg|Disney World Castle kennedy space center.jpg|The Kennedy Space Center in Orlando beach.jpg|Panama Beach Other major attractions include Sea World which was built in 1973, Universal Studios (1990), and the Kennedy Space Center in which one can watch IMAX videos, go on tours, and experience the space shuttle launches. Not only do visitors travel to Florida for the theme parks, but there is still a huge attraction for the beaches, fishing, hiking, boating, and cruises. The beaches of Florida are some of the most popular in the nation. Since Florida is surrounded by the ocean on three sides, there are many beaches to visit. These beach regions consist of the Panhandle, the West Coast beaches, and the East Coast beaches. Miami, the urban core of Florida's Atlantic coast, is considered the "Cruise Capital of the World", and serves millions of cruisers annually. Florida also has had many tourist attractions that have come and gone (ex. Pirate World or Skull Kingdom), and these lost attractions still hold a special place in the history of Florida's tourism boom. Nearly 84.2 million visitors traveled to Florida in 2008, bringing in approximately 65.2 billion dollars. However, due to the economic state of the nation, this number has dropped in the last few years.